Play Yoshi's Safari Online

Summary

Yoshi's Safari stands out as the Mario franchise’s lone rail‑shooting adventure, built around the SNES’s Super Scope light gun and the system’s Mode 7 graphics to fake a 3D feel. The game drops you into a first‑person view from Mario’s seat on Yoshi’s back, where you blast familiar foes—Goombas, Koopas, Cheep‑Cheeps—and smash question‑mark blocks for coins.

Each of the twelve levels must be cleared before a timer runs out, and a power gauge forces you to pace your shots or risk long pauses. Branching paths pepper the stages with extra enemies and hidden prizes, but every route converges on a boss battle against a Koopaling in a giant mech, a supersized enemy, or Bowser himself. Power‑ups such as mushrooms, flowers and stars boost health, firepower, or grant temporary invincibility, and some are only usable during those boss fights.

A two‑player mode lets one person wield the Super Scope while a partner steers Yoshi with a regular controller, adding a cooperative twist. After beating the game you receive a cheat code that raises the difficulty, and a built‑in leaderboard encourages high‑score runs.

Critics praised the title’s crisp visuals, smooth scrolling, lively music and the novelty of its multiplayer, often calling it the best Super Scope release. The short length and easy difficulty drew some criticism, and the game flopped commercially—its fate tied to the peripheral’s waning popularity and the hype around Mortal Kombat’s SNES debut. Since then it has never been reissued, remaining the sole first‑person shooter in Mario’s history.

Storyline

In Yoshi's Safari, Bowser and his Koopalings launch an invasion of Jewelry Land, kidnapping its rulers King Fret and Prince Pine and stealing the twelve magic gems that protect the kingdom. The theft triggers an earthquake that splits the land in two, and one of the Koopalings, Iggy, even builds powerful mechs to aid the assault. Princess Peach dispatches Mario, equipped with his Super Scope, to ride Yoshi across the fractured realm and recover the gems. As the duo battles through the chaos, they must defeat Bowser’s forces and free the captured rulers. Restoring the jewels will reunite the kingdom and put an end to Bowser’s evil plans.